* 2:24 pm - House Speaker Michael Madigan has just informed the House that he will call them into session beyond tomorrow’s scheduled adjournment if the Senate passes the constitutional amendment for recall on Thursday. Members are wondering if they need to be in town before the final 3rd Reading vote. It appears, of course, that they do.

Madigan was asked whether he would propose any amendments to the Senate proposal. He said he didn’t plan to do so, but he didn’t know what the sponsor - who will likely be Rep. Jack Franks - will do.

Madigan pointed out that if this proposed constitutional amendment is amended in the House, then it would have to be read three times in each chamber again. Sunday is the deadline to get the measure on the November ballot.

*** 2:25 pm *** Madigan was just asked by Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) why this proposal has become such a high priority. Madigan replied that, at least among House members, “This has become such a priority because of Governor Blagojevich.”

Ouch.

* 2:39 pm - Rep. Jack Franks spoke to reporters a short time ago about the Senate’s recall proposal, which he calls “a better bill” than his own. He said he won’t amend the bill. Here’s the audio….

* 2:43 pm - John Patterson at the Daily Herald no longer has a “bloggy type thing.” He’s got a real blog now with comments and everything. His latest post…

A “deal” on what supporters call major ethics legislation was supposed to be announced at 1 p.m. at the Capitol. But that announcement has now been pushed back to 4:30 p.m.

Some Republican supporters weren’t informed of the delay by the Democrats — who run the show in Springfield.

The GOP’s initial reaction was not a positive one.

Now the question is whether the delay is procedural or fatal.

…Adding… Rep. Fritchey just said that the ethics deal is still a deal. He’ll be holding a press conference with Sen. Harmon, House GOP Leader Cross and others at 4:30 this afternoon. The 1 pm press conference unveiling the deal was delayed so Fritchey could make extra sure that the deal was really a deal.

Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said details of the ethics package wil be released later today.

He described the latest version as taking the best elements of separate House and Senate proposals that were both aimed at banning campaign contributions from contractors who do business with the state.

* 3:26 pm - With about an hour to go before the press conference, negotiators are still “tweaking” the compromise ethics bill. So, things could still go wrong, but the train appears mostly on track.

Are the boys & girls in Springfield getting any real business done? Or are we just going to spend the rest of our days recalling each other? They better think long & hard about letting this genie out of the bottle.

On the ethics legislation, I’m curious to find out whether lawmakers are including provisions that impact the legislative branch, or whether this is limited to the executive branch… Yes, the administration has made more stringent ethics laws a priority, but the legislative branch is far from clean in how they conduct business.

“They better think long & hard about letting this genie out of the bottle.”

How are we “letting a genie out of the bottle”, its giving recall to the people, many other states have recall provisions that are not abused. The people elect thier leaders, we should be able to recall them as well.

This is real business. Simply because recall is being debated and worked on does not mean that other work isnt being done, it is simply one of the most important issues that is becing considered so rightly it gets the majority of the media attention.

Shouldn’t we’ve done this while George Ryan was in office? Man, he actaully killed people with his license for bribes deal. Okay he didn’t personally kill anyone, but his such actions can be linked to deaths.

IF the ethics legislation goes through, it would be nice if one of the Cook County Commissioners adapted it to county business. And please don’t forget all the law firms who currently contribute to the Cook County Board of Review members (who hear their arguments for property tax reductions for their commercial clients). I shall commence holding my breath now.

Flak, yes but can you tell me that legislators are currently above reproach and do everything by the (ethics) book? The Feds and Media have been completely consumed by administration, but clearly there are lawmakers who have issues. Bottom line is that lawmakers should also have limits on contributions.

Even if this recall legistation passes, Blogo will probably be impeached by the time to vote, so why bother-get on with the impeachment process and save taxpayer money. There’s enough grounds already and everyday it just gets worse.

GoBearss must have been giving a deposition this afternoon….not many comments….the Blagoof spin(as advanced by Dunkin’) was almost as sad as the Ronen TV appearence….Does everyone remember the contractors on Blagoof home was a TR company? So Ata was dropping a bag of cash to help TR pay the bills.
Gavel to gavel should be smokin’ tomorrow.

I love it. The speaker and leader of the democratic party of Illinois cant make health care, economic stimulas packages, more funding for schools, a capital bill for schools and roads, or ethics reform a priority… but he’ll damn sure will stay longer and keep people in to vote on a recall bill for a fellow democrat. good grief. I am ashamed to be a member of the Illinois Democratic party. No wonder DPI is a laughingstock nationally.

Scully and I were taken aback by the pouty-poo look on Jeffy Schoenberg’s little face at the presser today. Guess reform only counts if you’re the sponsor, eh? Hey, maybe you can sponsor some important new lege like divesting the State’s cash from the Cayman Islands?

Back to business. We’ve opened an X-File on a subject missing under suspicious circumstances who has been known to frequent this Blog.

He is a caucasian male who answers to the name of “Bill.” He shows signs of premature aging and excessive stress. in recent weeks, he has exhibited frequent changes of opinion. If anyone knows the wherabouts of “Bill” please contact our office.

Isn’t it ironic that the day the legislature is getting serious about the ethics bill is the day the notice goes out to all the “little people worker bees” in the state to take their annual ethics test. This must grind them down further. After all, they don’t get free trips, free lunch or bags of money given to them. All they get is more work.

Well, I guess now we’ll get to see how far emil will go to try to save guv’s bacon - if he can do it at all. It would be a perfect time though for Fitz to outflank them all with an indictment of the guv. That would be high theater indeed!

It wouldn’t surprise me if the legislature is worried about the Constitution Convention “wildcard.”

The more they look like they are “getting it,” or “doing something,” the easier it is to argue that we don’t need a convention.

Make no mistake. We STILL need a convention. Much as I appreciate the sentiment behind Fritchey’s bill, the idea that it eliminates “pay to play” in IL is pretty laughable. ($50K is plenty of incentive to play and pay with, and legislators, though not in control of specific contracts, still have “member initiatives” and inside info to work with.)

Further, we need much more than Recall in IL. We need to get 118 new people in a room to bang out some much tighter controls on IL gov.

All of this late “action” is probably an attempt to say “see, we don’t need a Convention.” Keep your eye on the ball. Vote Yes in Nov. and start looking for your favorite delegate candidate with no previous experience bilking Illinois citizens.